Put in certain situations, Sox were lost
We had two 20-game winners. We had the American League batting
champion. We had a shortstop who drove in 120 runs. We had a closer with
40 saves. We had a leadoff man who scored 118 runs. We had a 40-17 record
on June 7. We had seven All-Stars.
And we must wait until next April to see another baseball game.
This doesn't sit well with the constituency known as Red Sox Nation. We
have waited our whole life for a World Championship, they say. We
deserve a title, because nobody loves the game the way we love the
game and nobody has suffered more, and what did we ever do to be living
this horrible Tevye existence? Really, Lord. Would it spoil some
vast eternal plan if the Red Sox could win just one World Series title?
We're not asking for 26. One, just one.
On paper, this was the most perplexing Red Sox season of them all. You
never felt they were collapsing; they were just not winning enough.
Of course, some of the numbers are misleading. No baseball stat is more
meaningless than a closer's save number. The rule is simply too broadly
written. Bogus saves are epidemic, and Ugueth Urbina's 2002 season serves
nicely as Ultra-Exhibit A. He only had 12 one-run save opportunities, and
he blew four of those. A two-thirds save record is not good. Ugie is the
archetypical modern closer fraud, and never mind that he is also a
miserable, sour guy. Him making the All-Star team was a very sick joke.
Get rid of this guy.
But I'm just venting. It feels good to trash Ugie, but there is
something else on my mind, and that something is offense.
Nomar Garciaparra has to be given credit just for playing 156 games.
His wrist injury was very serious. If he weren't so stubborn and football
tough, he could never have gone as far as he did prior to his surgery, and
to put up the numbers he did the first year after his operation was a
tremendous achievement.
However ...
He is the most exasperating great player in Red Sox history. As good as
he is, do you really feel comfortable when he's up there in important
situations? Do you not feel that he will get himself out more often than
not? Is it not fair to ask of a skilled six-year veteran to demonstrate
some strike zone sense and situational awareness?
He is, in fact, the perfect reflection of what really was wrong with
the 2002 Red Sox. You can talk about Manny's six-week absence (the team
actually played pretty well without him), the middle relief woes, the
search for a reliable third starter after John Burkett stopped winning,
the curious defensive deterioration, and anything else you like, but the
No. 1 reason the Red Sox didn't win 98 or 100 games was their 13-23 record
in one-run games, and the primary reason for that was the team's pathetic
lack of intelligent, reliable situational hitting.
Such teams as the Yankees, Twins, A's, Angels, Braves, and Diamondbacks
all came into Fenway and demonstrated that they understood what it takes
to win games in the late innings. Some people looked at their batting
averages and got very confused. Where are the .300 hitters, they wanted to
know? The answer is you don't need .300 hitters to win baseball games. You
need .257 or .281 hitters who know what to do in the seventh inning of a
tie game with a man on second and no one out. The above-named teams all
have those people somewhere in their lineup. Some of them do have .330
hitters who know what they're doing in those situations (watch Bernie
Williams sometime).
The Red Sox have Nomar and Shea Hillenbrand, neither of whom works
counts at any time, be it first, third, fifth, seventh, or ninth innings.
I don't want to hear about Nomar's aggressiveness. The fact is he is the
same hitter he was in 1997, and if he could walk 75 or 80 times he would
help the team immeasurably. In Nomar's career he has only walked 34 more
times than Barry Bonds walked this year. Hillenbrand is completely
ridiculous in this regard. Baseball's No. 1 reigning mystery is why anyone
ever throws a strike to a man who has only walked 38 times in two full
seasons.
The one threat in clutch situations is Manny Ramirez, and I don't know
why anyone would bother pitching to him in these instances, since there
isn't another player in the lineup who has demonstrated he understands
what true situational hitting is all about.
Manny, of course, is oblivious to situations. He is just a tremendous
hitter, and when he's in his groove it doesn't matter if it's the first
inning with two outs and nobody on or the bottom of the ninth with two on
and the score tied. You will not get him out without a great effort. He's
not going to do it for you. This is in great contrast to everyone else.
The rest of them are only too happy to get themselves out and save you the
dirty work.
The Red Sox lost game after game after game from the seventh inning on
because they failed to do the things the playoff teams did routinely when
runs had to be scored. It doesn't surprise me in the least that so
many Red Sox players had decent numbers. The Red Sox will always have
their share of 11-2 games. As a result, the final numbers can be very
deceptive.
It is never about the numbers. It is about playing the game properly.
The teams that are still playing did. The Red Sox didn't.
By Bob Ryan, Globe Columnist, 10/4/2002
This story ran on page D3 of the Boston Globe on
10/4/2002.
© 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.